What does the Bible teach about Baptism?
Baptism is the first step of obedience for a new Christian. The first public act in the ministry of Jesus was His baptism by John the Baptist in the river Jordan (Matthew 3:13-17). The New Testament teaches that baptism is an outward sign of an inward change (Romans 6:4). It is a public confession and testimony of what has already taken place in your heart. Baptism is a burial and a resurrection. We are buried with Christ (immersed in water) in the likeness of His death, and we are raised with Christ in the likeness of His resurrection (Romans 6:2, 3). Not only does baptism picture the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, it also pictures the burial of the old sinful life and the resurrection of a new life in Christ. As a believer, you should be baptized not in order to be saved, but because you are saved (Acts 8:35-40). It is a witness of your faith in Christ.
